Chapter 2

ANNALISE

I pushed him away from me so hard and didn’t get to watch him fall as I turned to see that Mr. Dane was standing ten feet away.

He kind of looked tired of the sight in the way teachers always looked when they had stopped being surprised by anything.

"Step back," he ordered Knox.

Knox obeyed…

He almost kissed me!

This fucking jerk almost placed his disgusting lips on me!

Mr. Dane looked down and searched through his folder, retrieving two test results.

He handed the folder to another student in our year and asked him to distribute it.

Then he turned and looked between us.

"Both of you, my office, now."

Knox and I walked wordlessly behind him as he walked to his office with long strides.

Mr Dane waited for both of us to step in before he shut the door behind us.

Then he turned to Knox.

"I'm disappointed in you yet again, Mister Callahan," he ground out.

The atmosphere grew tense.

I kept my hands behind my back while focusing on breathing the way my therapist had taught me.

Mr Dane stepped forward and handed the test papers in his hand to each of us accordingly.

My face beamed at the score.

I got an A+ again.

My eyes flickered over to Knox's paper which had a red F that was big enough for me to see from where I stood.

A smirk curved the corners of my lips.

Serves him right.

Mr. Dane folded his hands.

"Knox is failing this term."

He looked at me.

"And if that continues, he won't be eligible to sit the final exams."

My brows lifted. Why was he looking at me?

"Annalise, I'd like you to tutor him."

My eyes bulged.

"What?"

"Knox would need about three sessions a week, starting tomorrow after school."

I shook my head.

"No," I said. "No! I refuse."

Mr. Dane raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

A dry scoff left my lips.

"Why?" I repeated letting out a humorless laughter "Because he has made it his life’s mission to make my life a living hell," I complained.

Mr Dane said nothing.

He just stared at me.

I continued through gritted teeth, “Every day he picks on me like he did in the hallway just now. You saw that he had his hand around my throat right before he almost…”

There was a short pause.

I tried to keep my breath steady despite the way my heart was slamming against my ribs.

"I did," Mr. Dane finally replied. "And I'm asking you to rise above that."

"That's not fair." I whispered.

"No," he agreed. "But both your names will go on the school disciplinary list if I report what happened this morning. That affects your scholarship, Annalise."

The word 'scholarship' did it, I went still instantly pressing my lips together.

"Fine," I said.

Mr. Dane nodded.

"You can go back to your classroom."

Anger clouded every inch of me as I yanked the door open and stepped out.

Knox followed behind me.

"This is gonna be fun, tic-tac.” he said.

I.Hate.Him.

***

My mom was twenty minutes late.

I stood outside, watching every car that wasn’t hers pull in and out.

Thankfully, Knox had practice.

One less problem.

Tomorrow, I will figure out how to deal with both him and Mr. Dane’s ridiculous plan.

A car sped past and it wasn't still her.

“Where is she?” I muttered.

When she finally pulled into the drive in, the music blasting from her car reached me before her car did even before I even saw her.

For God's sake, this was noise pollution, She leaned forward and opened the car door.

"Good afternoon," I greeted.

I climbed in the front and pulled the door shut.

"Hey, baby," she answered.

She did so without looking away from the screen of the phone propped right against the steering wheel for one bit.

I rolled my eyes as I leaned forward with a groan in order to turn the damn volume down myself.

That was when I saw them—the two large suitcases sitting in the back seat.

They were wedged together there as if they had been packed in a hurry.

I turned around slowly.

"What are those?" I demanded.

"Our things?" she asked.

"What do you mean by our things?" I demanded with raised brows.

She ignored me and merged into traffic.

"Mum!" I snapped.

She tapped her fingers impatiently on the wheel without a glance at me.

"We're moving, Annalise."

My eyes darted in confusion.

”We're what?”

“Moving. Today.”

I stared at her as something hot climbed up higher on the back of my neck.

"And you're telling me today? When were you going to say something?"

"Come on Annalise, I'm saying something to you now," she groaned.

A dry scoff left my lips.

"Mom."

I pressed my hand flat against the dashboard.

"I go to school every day. I come home every day. I am with you everytime I am not at school!" I yelled. "And you couldn't find one minute in the last week however long to tell me that we were moving?"

She exhaled through her nose as though my frustration was valid, "I knew you would react like this."

My eyes rolled hard in their sockets.

"Of course I would because this is literally so insane."

My voice cracked and I hated that it did.

"Where are we even going at this point?" I hissed. "And what about our old house?"

She was quiet for a second too long.

"Mom," I drawled, "What about the house?"

There was a short pause. "I sold it."

Tension stole the atmosphere and the car instantly felt smaller.

"Oh God," I gasped.

"Oh my God!" I repeated.

I sat back in my seat, just looking out the window because I didn't trust what my face was doing.

She pulled over to the side of the road and put the car in park.

She turned to look at me.

"You sold the house," I started to say slowly, "without telling me anything?"

A dry scoff escaped from her lips.

"You don't own the house."

I was livid.

"I live in it mum! I live in it."

My chest was heaving now and she gave me a lazy once over.

I looked down at my laps.

"Stop behaving like a spoiled brat, we are going somewhere better." she spat with a clipped voice.

“Your father left us with nothing so you should be thankful I’m doing everything to make our lives better…”

“ Now if you want to sit on this road with your suitcase and find somewhere better on your own, I will pull it out right now. Otherwise, you better sit still and let me drive.”

My eyes studied her face.

She meant it.

Every single word.

We drove into the elite part of the city where the houses were bigger and more luxurious.

When she turned through a set of iron gates and parked inside a compound that was larger than my entire old street, I understood that this was not a short visit.

She turned off the engine.

Then she just sat there with her fingers tightly wrapped around the steering wheel as if life depended on it.

She was nervous too.

Just as I was about to say something, she turned to me and said quietly. "Please, Annalise, I will need you to behave tonight."

My brows rose.

"I'm in love with him, Annalise. The man who owns this house. I want you to know that before we go in. Don't ruin this for me."

Something cold settled in my chest.

"How long have you known him?"

She looked away.

"We got married a few days ago at a private reception," she finally confessed.

She turned to look at me as I burst into laughter.

"Annalise I know—" she started.

I cut her off. "Love?"

I leaned forward.

"Oh goodness Mum, how long did you even go out before doing all of this?" I ground out.

She hissed.

"That's none of your business."

My gaze rounded.

"None of my business?" You are my mother and you just moved our whole life into two bags, Your new husband is going to be my business!" I scoffed.

Rage boiled in my stomach.

"You are a golddigger!" I snapped.

Tears built in the corner of my eyes, "That's what this is about, isn't it?"

Her hand moved before I could see it coming.

The slap landed across my cheek sharply, the impact throwing my head to the side.

I gasped.

She opened her mouth and then she closed it.

And she was soon reaching for my arm with a remorseful look on her face.

"Annalise, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, I just lost it for—"

I flinched back.

"Save it!" A tear rolled down my cheeks.

She sighed and made to speak again just as a knock sounded on the window.

We both went still.

My mother dropped her hand and smoothed her hair with two quick strokes.

I watched the way her whole face rearranged itself in the time it took me to breathe.

"Please," she whispered.

Then she unlocked the door.

She stepped out and went straight into the arms of a tall man waiting outside.

I took deep breaths, wiping my eyes before I moved.

When I stepped out, I was greeted by the man with a warm handshake.

He had a kind, handsome face.

And I forced a smile so he wouldn't know I hadn't just been crying thirty seconds ago.

My mother smiled up at him like the last five minutes hadn't happened.

He said he was glad to finally meet me, I said nothing worth remembering.

He called for someone to carry our bags and led us toward the front entrance.

I walked behind them with my cheek still smarting from the pain.

My stomach was still knotted.

And eyes watched the back of my mother's head as she laughed at something that he had said to her.

Then he stopped walking.

"Watch where you're going," he suddenly said, jerking me from my thoughts.

My eyes snapped to him because of the way his voice had shifted into something sharper.

But he wasn't talking to me, there was a boy at the entrance with only his side profile visible to me.

He was tall with his hands in his pockets.

Something about him felt familiar.

"Sorry, father," he said.

My whole body went cold.

Because the voice was one I would have recognized anywhere.

It was the same voice that had called me tic-tac that morning in the hallway.

The same boy who had wrapped his hand around my throat and almost kissed me just to humiliate me six hours ago.

He looked past them at my gasp until his eyes finally found my face.

Knox?

“What the hell are you doing here?” We said at the same time.